


A sweet relief to this hush

by seratonation



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Real World, Broken Characters, F/M, Gen, Mental Hospital AU, Mental Institutions, Other, Schizophrenia, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-13
Updated: 2013-06-13
Packaged: 2017-12-14 20:59:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/841316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seratonation/pseuds/seratonation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>- Can you tell me about the patients in ward M, Doctor Fury?</i>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>  <i>- Well, patients Banner, Stark, Odinsen, Rushman, Rogers and Barton share a very peculiar condition. They have an undifferentiated type of schizophrenia, and there’s a lot about their conditions that we still don’t understand. But over the past few years they’ve developed some sort of collective delusion. They believe they’re some type of heroes; The Avengers, they call themselves. Both together and individually they face overblown, grand conflicts against an assortment of enemies: human, alien, monsters, gods, you name it…</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	A sweet relief to this hush

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this post](http://bucksicle.tumblr.com/post/52172559793/the-avengers-mental-hospital-au-can-you-tell) by [bucksicle](http://bucksicle.tumblr.com).
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not have schizophrenia, not do I personally know anyone with disorder. No disrespect is intended. 
> 
> The title comes from Snow Patrol's _If There's A Rocket Tie Me To It_.

Banner is usually pretty mild mannered. In fact, visitors sometimes mistake him for one of the doctors. He would answer their questions, show them around. Tony usually outs him though, by running in with a seemingly mundane object (a phone, a small plate painted blue, some wires) in his hand yelling about his newest discovery. But Bruce had anger issues that scare even the oldest orderlies. When new interns asked, everyone would just repeat what Bruce was so fond of saying himself, 'you wouldn't like him when he's angry.'

His story was much more tragic than he would ever tell you. He's always had anger problems. When he started going to anger management his therapist realised there was more going on, he was dissociating himself from the anger, talking about a monster when he lost control, he said he was literally losing control of himself, that this other thing was taking over and it was big and green and even his therapist was kind of scared. Betty tried to help him, would try to talk him through his episodes but there was no one who could get through to him. She got in the way and she was hurt, in more ways than one.

But she kept going, even when he was in hospital she would come visit him and talk about when he gets better. She made plans for their future together, like this was just a phase, like he will be normal one day. Eventually though, she realised he won't get better, she realised her father was right and she leaves him. He doesn't yell or shout, doesn’t get angry at all. He lets her go. 

Tony used to be a genius playboy. He was going places, seeing things, doing people. He had the world in the palm of his hand until his parents died when he was 17 years old. He had a breakdown a couple of days later, yelling about conspiracies and how he was next, how people were out to get him. His father's best friend had to take over the family business. He made sure, from a distance, of course, that Tony was taken care off, and left it at that. 

These days Tony walks around with grey socks on his hands. Sometimes he calls them Dummy and You and refers to them as his bots. Sometimes he talks to an invisible person who he calls Jarvis. When his therapist asked him about it, Tony only said that Jarvis is the voice he built. He knows he’s not a real person, he’s not stupid, but Jarvis is Tony’s friend. 

Natasha was studying law before she was admitted. She started hearing voices and started taking meaning out of normal things. She said the people on tv and in pictures were telling her to do things. Then out of nowhere she attacked her boyfriend. When they finally managed to pull her off him, he had a broken arm, broken ribs and scars on his neck that never really faded. 

The prison doctors diagnosed her with schizophrenia and on their recommendation she was admitted to SHIELD. No family came for her, and nobody asked after her. But that’s where she met Clint and she’s never felt the need to leave. 

Clint used to be in the circus when he was younger. Him and his brother were part of the show, until he started hating the crowd. He would hide in the smallest places possible and refuse to come out. He said he was seeing things, was determined something was after him, a monster that will eat his soul. He ran away from the circus and eventually someone found him, lost and confused. He walked Clint to the hospital and helped him settle in. Nurse Coulson could recognise schizophrenia anywhere.

Clint and Natasha have an understanding that goes beyond the shared delusion. She always knew where he was, down to the exact segment of air duct, and he always knew what she was thinking; it usually involved homicide with everyday objects.

Thor has delusions of grandeur and he only talks in an old English accent. Sometimes he's a king of a fantastical world. Sometimes he's a superhuman warrior. His girlfriend sometimes comes to visit, but she never stays long. The doctors think his obsession with the stars is because of her. His brother stays longer when he visits, sometimes even takes part. He says when they were younger, they used to play pretend. He said it wasn't hard to fall back into old habits.

He explained that a few years ago they had experimented with drugs. Then Thor started acting strange, even when he hadn’t taken anything. The doctors later told him it’s what set off the schizophrenia. Loki got clean, and Thor got admitted. Even though the doctors say that it would have come up eventually, Loki still blames himself for what happened to Thor. 

Steve was the nicest one in the ward. He opened doors for ladies, called people ma'am and sir. He helped people with their problems. Even the staff found him a good listener. He was only 5'4 but he acted like he was as big as Thor. He even admitted himself. He said he wasn't sure what year it was but people kept telling him that World War II was over but he was sure that's where his friend had gone. This friend would drop by every once in awhile, whenever he was in the country, until he stopped. They got a call because Bucky knew how Steve worries. His letter said that he could stop worrying now. 

Steve hardly reacted, but it was no surprise that it was Steve's screams that were the loudest, his nightmares the worst to deal with. 

But the others, the avengers, they followed him like sheep follow a shepherd. They trusted him. He had his moments of clarity, and with the right medication could probably survive on his own. But he stayed. When they asked him why, he said it was because his team needed him.


End file.
